The winner of Puglia Show is the director Michele Alberto Chironi for VIATEMPIOANTICO

The XV edition of the European Cinema Festival closes with the awarding of all the prizes.

The Golden Olive Tree has been awarded to BLIND DATES by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia, 2013). The film tells the story of a single teacher, Sandro, who with a friend pushes his luck on a date website. The turning point arrives when he meets a haidresser, the wife of a prisoner.

The director Matteo Oleotto, with ZORAN – IL MIO NIPOTE SCEMO(Italy, Slovenia, 2013), has been awarded the fifth edition of the Mario Verdone Award. The hero is Paolo (Giuseppe Battiston), an unreliable forty-year-old man, devoted to the pleasure of good wine. One day his nephew Zoran arrives unexpectedly, maybe the right chance to take his revenge on the world…

The SNCGI Award to the Best European Actor has been given to Defne Halman leading actress of the film LIFELONG by Asli Özge (Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, 2014).

Besides the competition of the 10 European feature films, the European Cinema Festival has presented the Puglia Show competition to award a young Apulian director this year too. The winner of this edition is Michele Alberto Chironi for the short film VIATEMPIOANTICO.

The Jury, chaired by Bruno Torri and composed by Jacopo Chessa and Catia Dottori, has awarded Chironi with the CNC Prize, the AUGUSTUS COLOR Prize and 1.000 euros offered by Countess Maria Josè Petruzzi di Pietroforte. Grazia Tricarico has been given the Special Mention for MONA BLONDE.

Finally, the Emidio Greco Award has been given to Cristina Picchi for ZIMA (Russia 2013). The second edition of the prize has been organised in collaboration with the Centro Nazionale del Cortometraggio (CNC) and together with Greco family in memory of Emidio Greco. The aim is to award a young Italian author (max 30 years of age) for his talent in the realisation of a short film.

Below all the Awards and motivations of the Juries:

COMPETITION OF EUROPEAN FEATURE FILMS

The ten European films in the original language, selected by Cristina Soldano, have been awarded by an International Jury, chaired by Louis Miñarro (producer and director) and composed by Lou Castel (actor), Licia Eminenti (scree writer and director), Stefan Kitanov (Festival Director, producer and distributor), Jasmila Žbanić (director).

All the Awards:

– Golden Olive Tree for Best European Film to BLIND DATES by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia, 2013)

“For his capacity to go through complex, dramatic stories with the lightness of humour and the beauty of poetry”.

– Award for Best Photography to Mikhail Krichman for the film WINTER JOURNEY by Lubov Lvova & Sergey Taramaev (Russia, 2013)

“For the way in which the camera not only serves the film but is also an organic part of the structure, of rhythm and composition”.

– Award for Best Screenplay to Sudabeh Mortezai for her film MACONDO(Austria, 2014)

“For the capacity to treat complex themes, social, political and relationals through sincerity and humanity of a child’s eyes”.

– Special Jury Award to the actor Gregory Gadebois for the filmONE OF A KIND by François Dupeyron (France, 2013) and to the actress Defne Halman for the film LIFELONG by Asli Özge (Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, 2014)

“The juy has awarded the Special prize to the performance of two actors who distinguished for equal generosity in two completely different styles”.

– S.N.G.C.I. Award for the Best European Actor to Defne Halman main leading actress of the film LIFELONG by Asli Özge (Turkey, Germany, netherlands, 2014)

“Sensitive interpreter of a film that, through the engagement of its actors, focuses the deep contradictions of a union collapsing behind the appearances of a routine made up of strong feelings, success and wealth”.

“The director successfully switches from documentary to her first feature film surely not reinventing the subject she deals with as well as the way to face it, but rather showing an admirable balance, well supported by the hipnotic performance of her young actor, who turns into the missing figure of the father”.

– FIPRESCI Prize, given by the international Jury offilm critics Margarita Chapatte, Gianlorenzo Franzi and Tatiana Rosenstein, to LETTER TO THE KING by Hisham Zaman (Norway, 2014)

“For telling in a social context, presented in a cinematographic poetic form, the emotions and the short portrait of five persons in only 75 minutes”.

– Officine Lab Award to the Best not leading Actor to Jari Virman for the film CONCRETE NIGHT by Pirjo Honkasalo (Finland, Switzerland, Danimarca, 2013)

“For portraying with his character the reference point of the hero, well emphasising his doubts and uncertainties”.

– The Prize of 5.000 euros has been awarded to SEPTEMBER by Penny Panayotopoulou (Greece, Germany, 2013)

“For writing, directing and producing a significant work on the complex themes of solitudes and independence”.

PUGLIA SHOW – APULIAN SHORT FILM COMPETITION

The winner is Michele Alberto Chironi for VIATEMPIOANTICO

The Jury, chaired by Bruno Torri and composed by Jacopo Chessa and Catia Dottori, has given to Chironi the CNC Award, the AUGUSTUS COLOR Prize and 1.000 euros, offered by Countess Maria Josè Petruzzi di Pietroforte.

“It exists the visible and the invisible. If you only shoot the visible you don’t make a film, but a telefilm -Godard used to say. VIATEMPIOANTICO carries into a lynchian dimension the traditionally realistic themes: work, rural traditions and what remains of an archaic society. Particularly effective is the visual aspect, in which expressionistic suggestions involve the spectator in a circuit of strong subjectivity”.

Special Mention to Grazia Tricarico for MONA BLONDE

“MONA BLONDE is a mature and extremely fascinating work, that builds in a personal way, a glance on an experience physical and interior at the same time. Unforgettable the opening sequence, anticipating a future of great complexity and – as the Jury wishes – full of success”.

EMIDIO GRECO AWARD

To Cristina Picchi for ZIMA (Russia, 2013)

“ZIMA is a mature work of great visual suggestion, joining documentary elements to an intriguing and never formalistic mise-en-scene. In the short film, shot in Russia, you can perceive an international, cosmopolitan atmosphere. The wish of the commitee of Emidio Greco Award is that Cristina Picchi keeps this spirit, and is successful in Italy too”.